Digital X-ray
X-rays are one of the most important diagnostic tools and can help us evaluate bones and internal organs. They allow us to compare size and shape of organs inside your pet’s body. We can use an x-ray to examine your pet’s lungs, heart, abdomen, teeth and bones. With digital x-rays, results are available immediately and we can diagnose and monitor medical and surgical conditions like arthritis, bladder stones, stomach and intestinal foreign bodies, broken bones and tumors.
At San Diego Bay, our state-of-the-art digital x-ray machine allows us to take extremely detailed radiographs of your pet to help for a rapid, accurate diagnosis.
Digital x-ray machines produce much better images than traditional film x-ray machines. This means fewer x-rays are needed to obtain higher quality films, which means less exposure, less time and less stress for your pet. It is much safer for the environment, your pet and our staff as we do not need any harsh chemicals to develop film because our x-rays are digital. We can email them to you, save them to a disc for your records or email them to other specialists for fast consultation or referral if necessary.
Ultrasound
Ultrasound is frequently used with x-rays. It is a very important diagnostic tool. We can see internal organ architecture and thickness. We can detect abnormalities that cannot be palpated or seen on a physical exam. It is invaluable for making treatment decisions for a number of conditions that are important when treating your pet. In most cases the procedure relatively fast and routinely preformed without the need for sedation or anesthesia.
The above picture is an ultrasound from our own little dog Dee. We incidentally found a mucocele developing in her gall bladder! A mucocele is a collection of mucous laden bile that can form in the gall bladder and cause life threatening obstructions and infections. She is completely asymptomatic but by preforming routine scanning we found her gall bladder to be 5 times the normal size! Knowing that she has a mucocele we can more closely watch her for gall bladder infection before it causes a severe problem.